Room Draw & Housing Selection Processes

All rising seniors must complete the Rising Senior Room Draw Request Form by Tuesday, February 25, 4pm PT if they are interested in living ON-CAMPUS for the 2025-2026 academic year.  Any rising seniors who do not complete the Rising Senior Room Draw Request Form will not participate in room draw, and we will assume that they will live off-campus for the 2025-2026 academic year. Completion of this form does not guarantee housing, and REHS will try to best honor as many requests as possible. If there are more requests than bed spaces for rising seniors, decisions will be determined by the date and time we receive a student's form submission. This means the sooner a student completes this form, the better their chance of living on-campus for next year. Information about this process will be emailed to all rising seniors by February 6, 2025.

Each year, REHS allows a small number of rising juniors to live off-campus and be exempt from their required third year of living on-campus.  Approximately 30 students were approved for the previous year.  Rising juniors interested in living off-campus for 2025-2026 must complete the Third Year Live Off Form by Tuesday, February 25, 4pm PT.  Please note that the completion of the Third Year Live Off Form does NOT guarantee your approval, and you must NOT sign a lease or enter any off-campus housing agreement until you receive written permission from Residential Education and Housing Services. Students who do not have written permission to reside off-campus are obligated to reside in, and pay for, room and board on campus in accordance with the College’s housing policies.

• March 4: Room Draw Housing Application Opens
   
• March 23: Room Draw Application Closes. Any students required to be in campus housing who do not complete the application by the deadline, or students who missed the deadline, will receive an automatic room assignment for the Fall 2025 semester at the conclusion of room draw. We are unable to add students who miss the deadline to the formal room draw processes. We anticipate assigning housing to students who miss room draw in May or June. 
   
• March 26, April 1, and April 3: Room Draw Information Sessions

  • March 26:11:30am-12:30pm, Lower Herrick 

  • April 1: 6:00-7:00pm, Choi Auditorium

  • April 3, Virtual session (virtual link to be sent out to students in advance)

• April 8: Triple Room Draw (reserved for students who are interested in living in a triple-occupancy room)
   
• April 9: Rising Senior Room Draw 
   
• April 11: Rising Junior Room Draw
   
• April 15: Rising Sophomore Room Draw 

Please join us to answer any questions you may have regarding your Room Draw experience. All meetings will be virtual, and signup information will be emailed to all students.

• Tuesday, March 28
   
• Wednesday, April 3
   
• Tuesday, April 9

Themed Living Communities (TLC) TLCs are intended to create strong links between students by providing educational programming around a shared interest or identity. While students interested in our TLCs do not have to specifically identify with the particular theme of the community, it is expected that students will support and uplift the spirit and values of each community.

Application Period: Monday, January 27, 2025, to Friday, February 14, 2025.

How to Apply: Log in to your eRezLife account and complete the Themed Living Community application.

All rising sophomore, juniors, and seniors are eligible to apply to live in a Norris "Quad". A "Quad" is a suite-style housing, located in E. Norris Hall, where students live together and share a bathroom and small living room. This is an opportunity for students to live with a group of friends or those with a shared interest.  Living in a Quad is a year-long commitment, so students planning to study abroad or take a leave of absence are not eligible to apply.

There are a limited number of Quads that support configurations of 6, 8, and 16 students. If students are interested in applying for a Quad, they will designate a "leader" to submit an application on behalf of the group. Once the application is received by the deadline, REHS will review all applications and verify that all students have completed a housing application. The leader must ensure that all students interested in living in the Quad have completed their housing application or their entire application will be denied.

If there are more applications received than available spaces, REHS will randomly award Quads to student groups.

If a group is selected to live in the Quad, all students will receive a confirmation form. Every student is required to confirm their interest and commitment on living in the Quad by the proposed deadline. If any student within a Quad does not confirm their housing by the deadline, all students in the group will lose the ability to live in the Quad, and the Quad will be offered to another group of applicants.

Any students who do not receive a Quad will need to participate in Room Draw.

Detailed information, including deadlines, will be emailed directly to students. Please contact REHS at resed@oxy.edu with any questions about the Norris Quad Selection Process.

• REHS will host virtual opportunities for students to connect and identify a roommate for the next academic year. The Oxy Roommate Finder is a process where students will be able to search for other students seeking a roommate, and learn more about their living habits to determine a best fit.  Students will receive more information about this process via email during March in advance of Room Draw.

Please review this Roommate Group Infographic to learn how to create a roommate group in eRezlife.  Students will need to create a Roommate Group in order to select a double or triple occupancy room, and to see available rooms during Room Draw.

Students interested in seeking a housing accommodation for the 2025-2026 year must visit the Disability Services Housing Accommodations Website. This website contains all information about the application process. Please note that Residential Education and Housing Services does not approve housing accommodations; only the Office of Disability Services makes such approvals. Any questions about housing accommodations should be directed to their team. If approved, Disability Services informs Residential Education and Housing Services, and a team member from REHS will contact you regarding what options may be available. If approved by the Office of Disability Services, a representative from REHS will be in touch with the student during late March to early April to select their room. 

If you are planning to study abroad or take a leave of absence for Fall 2025, you do not need to complete any housing processes. Once you have completed the process to return to campus for Spring 2025, you should be in contact with Residential Education and Housing Services in Fall regarding Spring semester housing. Should you change your plans to study abroad or a leave for Fall, you should notify REHS, and we will add you to a housing waitlist.  We review our housing waitlist in June of each year and provide housing as space becomes available.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR STUDYING ABROAD:

Due to the high interest in study abroad, REHS and IPO wishes to share the following information that students should consider when determining which semester they wish to study abroad, and what on-campus housing options are available:

• If you are wanting to study abroad in SPRING semester and plan to be on campus for FALL semester, you will be eligible to participate in Room Draw. Students with approved housing accommodations or have particular housing needs or preferences may benefit from considering studying abroad in SPRING semester so they are able to participate in Room Draw.
   
• If you are wanting to study abroad in FALL semester and plan to return to live on campus for SPRING semester, you will be assigned an available room on campus. There is no Room Draw process for the SPRING semester, and we cannot guarantee any availability of a particular room type or that you will be placed with your preferred roommate.  Roommate groups do not guarantee placement. Typically, rooms available for SPRING semester include double or triple occupancy rooms with existing roommates.
   
• If a student wishes to study abroad in FALL semester and wants to live OFF-CAMPUS when they return for SPRING semester, they must participate in the Third-Year Live Off Process this semester and be approved by REHS to live OFF-CAMPUS upon their return from study abroad.

Housing selection for first-year and transfer students is completed over the Summer, and information about that process will be shared with students and families in June.This information will be emailed directly to students.